Stray Lions B into 40 over Group B final

Yesterday the second semifinal of the 40 over bags and bailers tournament Group B played between Straylions B and Agakhan at Sir Ali Muslim Club.

Straylions B won the toss and elected bat first and they scored 232/7 in 40 overs. Arun Balaraman top scored with 61 not out. The other main contributors with the bat are Ram 32, Anand Ranganathan 27, Chirag Sheth 26, Shezad 25 and Hiren Varaiya 21. The wiket taking bowlers for Agakhan are Keval 3-33, Harshit 1-46 and Sajjad 1-52.

In replya Agakhan managed to score 180 allout. The main run getters for Agakhan are Sajjad 52, Omondi 31, Karim 28, Bunty 27. The wicket takers for Starylions B are Hiren Varaiya 4-22, John Mayaka 2-33, Suresh 1-23, Thota Sreenivas 1-32 and Anand Ranganathan 1-33.

Straylions B will play with Goan Institute A in final of the tournament.

Thanks to Thota Sreenivas for the match report

Stray Lions to disband?

I hope that this is just a rumour and not reality.

Stray Lions' boss is reported to have disbanded the club after the A side's loss to Kanbis in the 40-over semis.

If it is true, it will be a huge blow to Kenyan cricket as this is a side that have built themselves up from nowhere to become a real force in the domestic game. The a side finished 3rd in the League and are on course to challenge for the title over the next couple of years. the B side continue to climb the leagues and provide depth to the squad.

'A team' captain Jimmy Kamande expressed the following sentiments regarding the news

"Thanks to you boss for giving us an opportunity to play this lovely game. I really feel honoured to have lead this team, for my former team mates, I can't do much but thank you for the support in each and every way. Good luck to us all in our cricket."

Fingers crossed this is just a rumour or knee jerk reaction to a bad day at the office and we will see this side continue to go from strength to strength in the future. The fate of much more than just a handful of players depend on it.

Swamibapa A beat Kanbis A to consolidate lead

Early reports in see Swamibapa A beating Kanbis to strengthen their claim on this year's title. we do not yet have details of the game, but a Swamibapa win will take them that little bit closer while Kanbis will really have to pull out some big results to avoid what could well be a finish outside the top 2 - something hard to imagine even as recently as last year.

batting first, Kanbis gtwere bowled out for 197 with Nehemia Odhiambo taking 2wkts for 21 runs, Tony Suji, 3wkts for 22 runs, Shem Obado 2wkts for 43 runs, James Ngoche 2 wkts for 29 runs and Lamek Onyango 1 for 26.

.Swami started on a good note with Maurice Ouma 37 and Francis Otieno 32 but Kanbis kept up the pressure taking some cheap wickets. Nehemia Odhiambo rallied with 37 runs and Lameck Onyango scored 34 to bring Swamibapa closer to the target which Elijah Otieno (16*) reached with a boundry with 2 overs to go.

In other games, Jimmy Kamande (pictured right v Ireland in the IC), captain of Stray Lions A (20) lead his team to a fabulous win over Simba Union (3) at Peponi School Ground when beating them by a massive 224 runs. The match was officiated by Subhash Modi and David Odhiambo.

Stray Lions won the toss and elected to bat first and scored 388 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in 49 overs thanks mainly to Jimmy Kamande who lit up the proceedings with a remarkable century (127). He received very good support from David Obuya 78, Peter Kituku 45, Hiren Varaiya 39 , Nadeem Ahmed 25 and Steve Tikolo 20. Bowling honours for Simba Union were shared by their captain Gagandeep Singh 2 wickets for 66 runs and Chetan Sangrakar 2 wickets for 32 runs.

Simba Union were bowled out for 164 in 34.3 overs with fine resistance coming from a Sri Lankan born left handed Shezad Nizar with a commanding and strokeful 74 and Lucas Olouch 36. For Stray Lions Steve Tikolo (3/25), Darshit Shah (3/43) and Hiren Varaiya 2/29 were the most impressive and successful bowlers.

SCLYL A also won chasing down 264 to beat Sir Ali A.

Telca won their game v Kanbis B to complete a horror weekend for Kenya's most successful club. This win puts Telca in clear second place behind Swamibapa, though with games in hand against weak sides, Stray Lions A could still mount a challenge for the title in what is developing into the most close fought NPCA League in years. With 4 teams still in with a very possible chance of winning the tournament, could this be the year that domestic cricket finally gets its lustre back?

31 teams prepare for NPCA League this weekend

As the national team return home to lick their wounds, there will be plenty of opportunity for them to prove why they are in the team and for pretenders to challenge for spots as the NPCA League gets underway this weekend.

There are 31 teams split across 4 division and while the nation's best players will doing battle in the Super Division, competition will be equally fierce all the way down to division III.

SUPER LEAGUE ENTRIES 2009.
Kanbis 'A'
Stray Lions 'A'
Swamibapa 'A'
Telca XI
Sir Ali 'A'
Simba Union 'A'
Kanbis 'B'
SCLYL 'A'

DIV I ENTRIES 2009
Nbi. Nookers 'A'
Swamibapa 'B'
Ruaraka 'A'
Premier
Ngara
Kongonis Dev
Nbi.Jafferys
Nbi.Gymkhana

DIV II ENTRIES 2009
Golden XI
Aga Khan
Qutbis
Goan Institue 'A'
Simba Union 'B'
SCLYL 'B'
Stray Lions 'B'
Sir Ali 'B'

Div III ENTRIES 2009
Parklands
Nbi.Nookers 'B'
Oshwal XI
Ruaraka 'B'
Aaryans
Goan Institute 'B'
Women's XI